Mollie Patton

Classroom

Patton will graduate with a degree in exercise science along with completing the Pharmacy program at South Carolina. Patton holds a 3.82 GPA entering her final season and was a member of the first class of the South Carolina Pharmacy program. She was a 2009 NSCAA Scholar All-American, marking the first year that a Gamecock earned the top academic honor. She is also a two-time CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection and is a three-time SEC All-Academic Team selection. Her goal is to become a pharmacist.

Character

There was a point when Patton thought her career was over before it began. She arrived on campus in 2006 behind two older keepers and was redshirted only to see herself suffer a severe concussion during her first spring training season. The concussion kept her out of action for another five months without practicing with the team before another collision left her with post-concussion syndrome, bringing back all of her symptoms and forcing her to miss her second straight season (2007) without being medically cleared to compete with the team. When she was finally cleared to play for the 2008 season, doctors ordered her to play with a protective helmet, one that initially led to heckling from opposing fans and teams before she embraced her situation and became a leader and captain of her team.

Community

Along with her team, Patton has worked a lot in the community of Columbia the past four years doing Habitat for Humanity as well as other housing project works. She spends time during the offseason reading to Children at Columbia-area elementary schools. In addition to working at every South Carolina women’s soccer camp since arriving on campus, Patton has volunteered at soccer clinics held throughout the state and also worked at sports camps for inner city kids in Columbia and Milford, Ohio (outside of Cincinnati). She has worked as a tutor at South Carolina and, because of her background and interest in the medical field, routinely donates blood for the Red Cross.

Competition

After playing only two years in goal, Patton has already cemented her status as the top goalkeeper in South Carolina history. She had a breakout junior season in goal in 2009 and finished the year ranked third in the nation with 15 solo shutouts, third nationally with 19 wins and 10th nationally with a 0.516 goals against average. Patton currently holds the South Carolina single season (15) and career (22) shutout records after only 47 career games. She also set the SEC records for single-season shutouts (15) as well as for consecutive shutouts with seven straight after opening the 2009 season with a 771:38 shutout streak. She earned NSCAA All-South Region honors for her 2009 campaign. With one season remaining, she sits second on the SEC all-time goalkeeping list with a 0.73 career goals against average and is on pace to break the SEC record for career shutouts (currently tied for eighth with 22—the record is 33).